Abstract
Whether to improve training or performance, the use of technology is ever increasing in sport. A common piece of technology used to aid golfers is a distance measuring device (DMD). The purpose of this study was to determine how the introduction of a DMD to golfers who do not currently use a DMD affected their trust in DMDs, their confidence in estimating yardage and their golf performance. Eighteen golfers with a handicap of 20 or less participated in a repeated measures design study where measures were taken at baseline as well as following each of four rounds of golf. Trust in automation and confidence to estimate yardage were assessed using a modified validated questionnaire on trust in automation (Jian et al., 2000). The participants took baseline measures of demographics, experience and trust in abilities at an initial meeting. Following this meeting, they played two rounds of golf without a DMD, completed the trust in abilities measure and reported their golf score following each round. The participant then played two more rounds of golf using the DMD, completed both the trust in abilities and trust in automation measures, and reported their golf score following each round. The introduction of DMDs to non-users significantly increases their trust in automation, significantly decreases their confidence in their own ability to estimate yardage, and did not improve or decrease golf performance. Future research should examine trust and confidence levels in current DMD users and examine if DMD use impacts performance for golfers with greater ability.
